OK...I'm off to find that video. Back later on......

Cindy

I went to Lowes and got a T and clamps and a valve and screw-in device that fits the valve into the assembly. It works great - except it is rather loud. But I have to tell you - that it is apparent that the fish are much energized by this. And it's just great to watch them !

The pond is clearer and they are swimming with enthusiasm.

The new concern... is that we still have 90+ weather here. And there was activity a few days ago - when the temp. reached over mid-90s - of spawning.

In NC - it is possible to go really cold. Tho' this global warming - long-time local drought thing - is making me wonder what I should do for winterizing.

Also - I guess I should post a new message about this - but I have read that koi (i just have two small ones) - don't tolerate temps - below 50F. Is that true ?

Anyway - thanks very much for your help with the aerator
exuberance. The fish seem very happy ! And that makes me really happy !!

R in Chapel Hill

You only need a T and one valve. Install the T near the pump. Run one side to the pond. Run the other side to the valve. Open the valve just enough to bleed off the air you don't need in the pond. This is reducing the pressure at the pump and saving the pump. If you put the valve in line with the pump you are increasing the pressure and shortening the life of the pump. A suitable parts are:

www.aquaticeco.com

107A Tee (Insert x Insert x Insert), 5/8" $2.31

70012 Hose Valve, 1/2" $10.89

And some 3/4" Stainless Steel Tubing Clamps.

Here is a link that might be useful: AquaticEco

the link is below.

Here is a link that might be useful: air stones in winter

Here is a link that might be useful: Nitrifying bacteria and chloramine - example paper

From the looks of your orchid you aren't doing too shabby :) Most people here will admit to having killed their first orchid very quickly, so getting yours to bloom is an achievement.

It's leaves are a little too dark green so I would give it a little more light, but not too much as that may burn it. Slowly (over the course of a few weeks) move it over to a brighter spot and monitor to make sure that leaves aren't getting warm to the touch.

Since the orchid has been in the same pot for the 5 years is is certainly due for a repot. Here is a website that describes how to repot. You should be able to get a new orchid mix from your local Home Depot or Lowes store. They usually have an "Orchid Mix" or "Phalaenopsis Mix" consisting of Bark, Charcoal and Perlite. Either one of these mixes would work. If you say that you've been overwatering, it's possible that all the roots inside the pot have rotted away, in which case when you repot you should tuck the aerial roots into the medium. Don't move to a larger pot unless there are lots of roots in the medium, orchids generally like to be a little underpotted (you want to fit the roots not the plant).

As to fertilizer, most HD and Lowes stores have an Orchid fertilizer. However any balanced fertilizer around 10-10-10 will do. Make sure you do not over fertilize as orchids can only take in minute amounts of nutrients. Many people fertilize with 1/2 or 1/4 the recommended dose with every watering, aka "fertilizing weakly weekly". Once you start fertilizing you want to make sure to flush the pot at least monthly with clean water from the faucet to make sure that there is no salt buildup.

I know that this is a lot of information, and you certainly have more questions, so I'm also going to refer you to our FAQ. However, please don't hesitate to ask further questions if they're still not answered.

Also, many people here will recommend that you buy a beginner book on orchids such as Ortho's Orchids. These are also usually available at HD and Lowes as well as Amazon, etc.

I hope I've helped and welcome to the forum!
Best,
Jem

Here is a link that might be useful: Concrete art. books

Never clean off all of the filter material at one time.
Always leave some of the filter material "dirty".
This will re inoculate/re-seed the rest of the cleaned material, with the "good bacteria" which is required, to keep the pond water healthy.
"Horton".

Here is a link that might be useful: Pond Filters,

I did container gardening for many years and always had success with my method. I don't recommend it, but it worked for me.

I always used fifteen gallon plastic containers with a drain hole in the bottom. In the bottom of the pot, I would place two inches of 50/50 mixed pea gravel and washed river rock. Over the rock layer, I would place one layer of the permeable black landscape cloth. I would then mix 70% soil or dirt with 30% peat moss. I would add one small coffee can of crushed limestone and a good handful of commercial 10-10-10 fertilizer. I would mix all of it in a wheel barrow and fill the tub almost to the top with the mixture. I would then place each tub on some small tiles which were sitting on one of those large round landscape stones. Sitting the pots on the tiles facilitated air circulation under the pot keeping the soil at the bottom of the pot from turning sour. I would then prepare some tomato cages by bending the tips of the legs up to prevent the sharp ends from poking through the bottom of the pots. I would then push the legs through the soil into the rock to the bottom of the pot. I would then drill holes through the top edge of the pots at four locations. I would use good wire and wire the cages in a standing position to the edge of the pots. I would normally use a large washer on the pot end of the wire to prevent the wire from pulling back through the holes. I would then take a second tomato cage and turn it upside down and wire it's large round hoop to the large round hoop of the first cage. This method would result in a tomato cage about 8' tall. I usually allowed the whole thing to sit for about a week with the drip irrigation going. This allowed time for the fertilizer, acid from the meat moss, minerals from the limestone, and micro nutriens and bacteria from the dirt to balance out. I would then plant each pot with three or four tomato plants and three or four cucumber plants.

This method prevented me from purchasing a lot of very expensive potting soil/mix, and performed very well.

Ted

I think, as container gardeners, our first priority is to insure aeration for the life of the soil. Since aeration and drainage are inversely linked to soil particle size, it makes good sense to try to find a soil component with particles larger than peat and that will retain its structure for extended periods. Pine bark fits the bill nicely.

The following hits pretty hard against the futility of using a drainage layer in an attempt to improve drainage. It just doesn't work. All it does is reduce the soil available for root colonization. A wick will remove the saturated layer of soil. It works in reverse of the self-watering pots widely being discussed on this forum now. I have no experience with these growing containers, but understand the principle well.

There are potential problems with wick watering that can be alleviated with certain steps. Watch for yellowing leaves with these pots. If they begin to occur, you need to flush the soil well. It is the first sign of chloride damage.

One of the reasons I posted this is because of the number of soil questions I'm getting in my mail. It will be a convenient source for me to link to. I will soon be in the middle of repotting season & my time here will be reduced, unfortunately, for me. I really enjoy all the friends I've made on these forums. ;o)

Since there are many questions about soils appropriate for containers, I'll post by basic mix in case any would like to try it. It will follow the Water Movement info.

Water Movement in Soils

Consider this if you will:

Soil need fill only a few needs in plant culture. Anchorage - A place for roots to extend, securing the plant and preventing it from toppling. Nutrient Sink - It must retain sufficient nutrients to sustain plant systems. Gas Exchange - It must be sufficiently porous to allow air to the root system. And finally, Water - It must retain water enough in liquid and/or vapor form to sustain plants between waterings. Most plants could be grown without soil as long as we can provide air, nutrients, and water, (witness hydroponics). Here, I will concentrate primarily on the movement of water in soil(s).

There are two forces that cause water movement through soil - one is gravity, the other capillary action. Gravity needs little explanation, but for this writing I would like to note: Gravitational flow potential (GFP) is greater for water at the top of the pot than it is for water at the bottom of the pot. I'll return to that later. Capillarity is a function of the natural forces of adhesion and cohesion. Adhesion is water's tendency to stick to solid objects like soil particles and the sides of the pot. Cohesion is the tendency for water to stick to itself. Cohesion is why we often find water in droplet form - because cohesion is at times stronger than adhesion, water’s bond to itself can be stronger than the bond to the object it might be in contact with; in this condition it forms a drop. Capillary action is in evidence when we dip a paper towel in water. The water will soak into the towel and rise several inches above the surface of the water. It will not drain back into the source. It will stop rising when the GFP equals the capillary attraction of the fibers in the paper.

There is, in every pot, what is called a "perched water table" (PWT). This is water that occupies a layer of soil that is always saturated & will not drain at the bottom of the pot. It can evaporate or be used by the plant, but physical forces will not allow it to drain. It is there because the capillary pull of the soil at some point will equal the GFP; therefore, the water does not drain, it is "perched". If we fill five cylinders of varying heights and diameters with the same soil mix and provide each cylinder with a drainage hole, the PWT will be exactly the same height in each container. This is the area of the pot where roots seldom penetrate & where root problems begin due to a lack of aeration. From this we can draw the conclusion that: Tall growing containers are a superior choice over squat containers when using the same soil mix. The reason: The level of the PWT will be the same in each container, with the taller container providing more usable, air holding soil above the PWT. Physiology dictates that plants must be able to take in air at the roots in order to complete transpiration and photosynthesis.

A given volume of large soil particles have less overall surface area in comparison to the same volume of small particles and therefore less overall adhesive attraction to water. So, in soils with large particles, GFP more readily overcomes capillary attraction. They drain better. We all know this, but the reason, often unclear, is that the PWT is lower in coarse soils than in fine soils. The key to good drainage is size and uniformity of soil particles. Large particles mixed with small particles will not improve drainage because the smaller particles fit between the large, increasing surface area which increases the capillary attraction and thus the water holding potential. Water and air cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Contrary to what some hold to be true, sand does not improve drainage. Pumice (aka lava rock), or one of the hi-fired clay products like Turface are good additives which help promote drainage and porosity because of their irregular shape.

Now to the main point: When we use a coarse drainage layer under our soil, it does not improve drainage. It does conserve on the volume of soil required to fill a pot and it makes the pot lighter. When we employ this exercise in an attempt to improve drainage, what we are actually doing is moving the level of the PWT higher in the pot. This reduces available soil for roots to colonize, reduces total usable pot space, and limits potential for beneficial gas exchange. Containers with uniform soil particle size from top of container to bottom will yield better drainage and have a lower PWT than containers with drainage layers. The coarser the drainage layer, the more detrimental to drainage it is because water is more (for lack of a better scientific word) reluctant to make the downward transition because the capillary pull of the soil above the drainage layer is stronger than the GFP. The reason for this is there is far more surface area in the soil for water to be attracted to than there is in the drainage layer.

I know this goes against what most have thought to be true, but the principle is scientifically sound, and experiments have shown it as so. Many nurserymen are now employing the pot-in-pot or the pot-in-trench method of growing to capitalize on the science.

If you discover you need to increase drainage, insert a wick into the pot & allow it to extend from the PWT to several inches below the bottom of the pot. This will successfully eliminate the PWT & give your plants much more soil to grow in as well as allow more, much needed air to the roots.

Uniform size particles of fir, hemlock or pine bark are excellent as the primary component of your soils. The lignin contained in bark keeps it rigid and the rigidity provides air-holding pockets in the root zone far longer than peat or compost mixes that rapidly break down to a soup-like consistency. Bark also contains suberin, a lipid sometimes referred to as nature’s preservative. Suberin is what slows the decomposition of bark-based soils. It contains highly varied hydrocarbon chains and the microorganisms that turn peat to soup have great difficulty cleaving these chains.

In simple terms: Plants that expire because of drainage problems either die of thirst because the roots have rotted and can no longer take up water, or they starve to death because they cannot obtain sufficient air at the root zone for the respiratory or photosynthetic processes.

To confirm the existence of the PWT and the effectiveness of using a wick to remove it, try this experiment: Fill a soft drink cup nearly full of garden soil. Add enough water to fill to the top, being sure all soil is saturated. Punch a drain hole in the bottom of the cup & allow to drain. When the drainage stops, insert a wick several inches up into the drain hole . Take note of how much additional water drains. This is water that occupied the PWT before being drained by the wick. A greatly simplified explanation of what occurs is: The wick "fools" the water into thinking the pot is deeper, so water begins to move downward seeking the "new" bottom of the pot, pulling the rest of the PWT along with it.

Having applied these principles in the culture of my containerized plants, both indoors and out, for many years, the methodology I have adopted has shown to be effective and of great benefit to them. I use many amendments when building my soils, but the basic building process starts with screened bark and perlite. Peat usually plays a very minor role in my container soils because it breaks down rapidly and when it does, it impedes drainage.

My Soil

I'll give two recipes. I usually make big batches.

3 parts pine bark fines
1 part sphagnum peat (not reed or sedge peat)
1-2 parts perlite
garden lime
controlled release fertilizer
micro-nutrient powder (substitute: small amount of good, composted manure

Big batch:

3 cu ft pine bark fines (1 big bag)
5 gallons peat
5 gallons perlite
1 cup lime (you can add more to small portion if needed)
2 cups CRF
1/2 cup micro-nutrient powder or 1 gal composted manure

Small batch:

3 gallons pine bark
1/2 gallon peat
1/2 gallon perlite
handful lime (careful)
1/4 cup CRF
1 tsp micro-nutrient powder or a dash of manure ;o)

I have seen advice that some highly organic soils are productive for up to 5 years. I disagree. Even if you were to substitute fir bark for pine bark in this recipe (and this recipe will far outlast any peat based soil) you should only expect a maximum of three years life before a repot is in order. Usually perennials, including trees (they're perennials too, you know ;o)) should be repotted more frequently to insure vigor closer to genetic potential. If a soil is desired that will retain structure for long periods, we need to look to inorganic amendments. Some examples are crushed granite, pea stone, coarse sand (no smaller than BB size in containers, please), Haydite, lava rock, Turface or Schultz soil conditioner.

I hope this starts a good exchange of ideas & opinions so we all can learn.

Al

I got a pound of free fathead minnows from the county health department about 2 weeks ago. Everything was fine with them, saw them swimming around, until my husband turned on the pump and skimmer in the pond last Thursday. At first there were only a couple of dead fish every other day or so, but today, when he turned off the pumps again to find out where the leak was coming from once more, there were 18 dead fish!!! And they all had their stomach missing!!!

We took some out of the pond to be able to post pictures -
Someone... PLEASE tell me what is doing this???

Items from Walmart type garden center, 40 lb. bags of Composted Peat Humus, 40 lb. bags of Composted Cow Manure, Epson Salt and Bonemeal and Espoma Tomato-tone® 4-7-10 fertilizer or equivalent .

In raised beds, after tilling, I dig good sized holes about 2 feet across, scattering the soil around the hole. Then to each hole I add ½ bag of the peat humus, 1/4 bag of the manure, then I scatter about the hole a handful each of Epson salts, Bonemeal and Espoma. Then I use a spade fork to mix the formula VERY well some inches beyond the depth and width of the original hole. If plants are indeterminate they should be planted at least 4 feet apart.

I then, using my hands, I make a hole in the center of this mixture and plant the seedlings. If seedlings are tall I strip off the leaves except for the top few inches, and lay it at an angle or on its side in the hole and cover up to the leaves. Then I form a 4 inch deep water holding basin [a crater] about 1 1/2 feet across and around the plant, then mulch the plants and bed with straw or grass clippings, then water. Last I spread a handful of granular fertilizer such as Espoma Tomato-tone® 4-7-10 on top of the mulch around the plants so it will leach into soil over time and feed the outer roots for they grow wide and deep. I use concrete wire cages 18-20 inches across and anchor them with rebar driven deep next to the cage. When I have to water, if I don’t get rain in 7-10 days, I stick an open ended hose at the base of the plants and give them a couple gallons.

Never over water. The plant’s leaves will tell you they’re thirsty by drooping a bit. As the plants grow, to help prevent leaf disease, trim any branches that droop and touch the mulch.

During late summer if I think they need it I'll give each plant a couple gallons of fish emulsion or what ever liquid type I have. And if you have leaf problems, get started early using Daconil as soon as you plant, even saturate the mulch around the base as well as top and bottom of leaves.

I can't say this is the best way to do it, but it works for me.

Earl

Parasite treatments can be very expensive. The larger the volume of water, the more treatment product it is going to take.
I use Interpet Parasite treatment, see it here,
[http://pondusa.com/treat1.htm]
in the Fall as a prophylactic treatment to combat any winter/spring invaders in the pond. It costs about $20.00 to treat 2000 US gallons, a bit more than that in Canada unfortunately!!!

Good suggestion about checking the water parameters, i.e. nitrites, nitrogen, ammonia, pH, etc.

Was your pond cleaned out last Fall or did you leave it full of leaves and other junk, that could be creating a problem now?

Depending on what you find out, re,the fish and water condition, you may have to empty the whole pond and scrub down the sides, vacuum the silt etc, from off the bottom and start all over again, treating the new water with de-chlorinator.
Check the link out below about parasites.

Here is a link that might be useful: Parasites in the pond.

Crocheted:
I usually buy a couple of yards of net (tulle) and cut in 2 inch strips across the 60 or 72" width of net. Then sew them end to end, and you don't have to be too particular. Then with at least a K hook chain 5 or 6, connect the ends. Then just start sc in every spot you can around continuously until it's about 4 inches across. I try to make the crocheted area as solid as I can, but the design is not important, if there's a gap, I put a sc in it. That's all there is to it. I have made them double layered, too

Sewed (per Heloise):
Here's what you'll need to make one nylon-net scrubber:

1/2 yard of 72-inch-wide nylon net AKA Tulle (found at fabric shops)

scissors

strong nylon thread or dental floss

large needle

1. Cut the nylon net into three 6-inch-by-72-inch strips.

2. Place the three strips on top of each other evenly, then take the needle threaded with nylon thread or dental floss and begin sewing down the middle (lengthwise), using long basting stitches.

3. When done, hold the thread in one hand and pull back on the nylon net to form a ball.

4. Secure the ball by wrapping the ends of the thread around its center and knotting tightly. Trim off the thread ends.

5. Pull apart the layers of nylon net to fluff, and you now have a scrubbie!

Here is a link that might be useful: clicking on this will begin the download for the Excel file

http://www.ponddoc.com/WhatsUpDoc/Plants/Soiless.html
http://bonniesplants.com/how_to/soiless_planting.html

(Why do you want to grow them bareroot ?)
to keep dirt out of the pond and to avoid problems of soil going anarobic

(Once they start to reproduce it will be so hard to separate the extra plants from the rocks.)
Even if the rocks are big? egg size or larger?

(Once the plants start growing their roots will cover the top of the pots so the fish cant remove the dirt.)
I have dirt now in the pond because of them tipping over haven't even though about goldies removing dirt, so far they don't even seem interested.

(Whatever you decide , do it now in the fall so you dont disturb the roots in the spring.)
I don't have a lot of neutrients in the water now so I was thinking I should wait till the spring and let the plants use the soil now, undecided as to what's best.

(Make sure you get larger pots . I raise pond plants so what I do is use the cheap black plastic pots you buy them in , put a layer of plastic over the holes on the bottom so the dirt doesnt come out and stick your plants in with a little fertilizer.)
Would you not end up with anarobic soil like this?

(Make sure you have some fish in that pond or you'll be loaded with Mosquitos.)
Got some goldies in there.

(You might also have a problem with all those pretty rocks on the shelf . It looks nice now but a lot of dirt will get stuck around them making it hard to clean . Also as soon as your algae starts growing , they will be covered and if you have Koi , when they get big they'll knock those to the bottom. Rick)
No to Koi, plan on goldies and blue gills. I plan on squirting those rocks when I add water, kind of flushing them out. I plan on using most of them to anchor plants and hide pots.

I am going to do an experiment. I have 3 irises:
#1 I'll repot soilless now
#2 repot in the spring soilless and
#3 I'll leave in it's pot with soil.

we shall see how they do by summer next year.

RexAnne

I purchased 1/2 inch water pipe (barely over $1 at Home Depot), 90 degree elbows, noodles, fishing line and plastic cross stitch canvas.

I placed the canvas on a flat surface, placing elbows at the corners. The distance between the elbows is the length I cut my noodles.

I then cut my pipe sections 1 inch longer to allow 1/2 inch on each side for the space the elbows would take up.

I slid the noodles onto the pipe, then stitched/tied the noodles to the plastic canvas with fishing line and even ran a line through the bottom so they could be anchored in place.

I then placed a thin layer of spanish moss in the bottom, placed my plants, then snugged them in with more spanish moss. How lovely they looked. I would guess that the cost was $3 each or less. I could never have afforded those expensive ones they offer on line.

I am now thinking about making a larger one - using a full noodle on each side and half noodles for the ends.

Thanks again for sharing your pictures and Lisa's instructions.

"Polished water" has a variety of meanings but in general it means water that has had additional treatment typically to remove things that are difficult to remove. The term can be applied to waste-waters and also be applied to drinking water or even your pond water after it has been treated in some fashion by "simpler" methods. Such things as removal of trace organics, trace nutrients (phosphorous, nitrates, etc.), heavy metals, bacterial counts, turbidity are all things that would be "reduced" in a polished water. But using car wax does not make it polished water!!! (sorry for the pun!). There are many methods of achieving this but they tend not to work that well for pond systems because of the nature of the pond environment to adapt to whatever is happening. For example, a flocculent aid (these can be - but not limited to - very long-chain polymers that are added to the water and attach to particles causing them to clump together) may show very good performance for a week or two but lose it’s effectiveness over time; the pond may have adapted to it and probably has the bacteria available to consume the polymer or other factors. Using zeolites - usually for ion-exchange or removal of inorganic ions - may work for awhile until the exchange capacity is used up or the surface is covered with bacteria so that exchange can’t take place. Using activated carbon - NOT to be confused with crushing up a charcoal briquets!!! - provides very small pores and huge internal surfaces for sorption of trace organics; it might help with removing your tannins but the A.C. also loses it’s effectiveness as the pores become saturated or covered with bacteria. Find the source of your tannins is probably a better approach.

Oxygen transport and use in your pond. First, you need to understand that ANY type of bacteria that you can reasonably think of exists in your pond; it’s there...count on it. Whether or not it’s there in abundance or is the dominant type depends on the set of conditions that it likes or doesn’t like. There’s no such thing as a pond that is totally free of anaerobic bacteria, free of pathogens, etc. You may be lucky and not have a specific pathogen present at some point in time but I usually assume that something will ultimately happen to help introduce it into my pond (those @#$@$ birds!). If you were to attempt to measure "them" - any specific microbial entity or pathogen, etc. - you might not find many of "them" there but count on "them" being there. When the correct conditions arise "they" will out-compete the other bacteria or other micro-organisms and grow exponentially until the conditions are no longer as favorable for continued growth. This could be the result of temperature, nutrients, lack of microbial predators...a host of things. The second point is that anaerobic conditions are very easy to establish. If you have a submerged pot in you pond with say a lily growing in it then you will have anaerobic conditions within that pond specifically within the container. Even if the surrounding water is highly saturated with oxygen the soil will be anaerobic or near anaerobic within as little as 1/4 inch from the soil-water interface. This depends on a number of factors including the organic content in that soil. There will be oxygen in and around the roots of the plant since it will transport oxygen deep into the pot but it will still "stink" if you lift the pot out and dig around in it. If you choose to look into this more then search using terminology such as "pore water chemistry" when you look. The third point is that all bacteria and algae respire or use oxygen and the rate at which they will use it is very temperature dependent. Algae will have a net production of oxygen during the day with sunlight but during the night or while slipping through you biofilter it will be consuming oxygen. The fourth point is that many - but certainly not all! - bacteria tend to grow better when attached to surfaces. So in that sense the liner of your pond is part of your biofilter; the inside of you pipe from the skimmer to the waterfall is part of your biofilter; etc. Bacteria attach and grow. When you turn off the flow through the line they continue to consume oxygen until it is so reduced or depleted that their growth environment is no longer adequate. Remember, any bacteria you can imagine are already there. So as the oxygen level in your pipe drops down to zero other bacteria - anaerobic (and facultative anaerobes) take over with the result that the original bacterial coating sluffs off the surface and compounds such as sulfates are now reduced to hydrogen sulfide as well as the formation of other anaerobic by-products (the "stench" you complained about). The same thing will occur in your bio-filter if you decided to save a bit of electricity and shut it down for the night. Usually the biofilter will stay aerobic only for an hour or so if the water temperatures are in the 60's; it’s on the order of 10 - 15 minutes if the water is in the 90's or higher! As pointed out by Squirelette even debris captured in a fold in you liner can lead to similar conditions be it for release of tannins or creating of a micro-anaerobic environment. When you then turn on the pump or move water through the line all the sluffed bacteria appear as a batch of turbidity and may or may not stink depending on how long the line was allowed to sit there and accumulate the anaerobic degradation products.

You are mostly correct about where oxygen enters your pond. But there is a bit more to it then that. Oxygen will go into the water wherever air is in touch with the water. The rate at which it will do that is higher the more turbulence you provide (which is why your stream and waterfall help a great deal). But it will also be released into your pond by the algae during the day. It will enter the water over in that quiet little corner away from all the obvious water movement. Once the oxygen is in the water it is carried/moved throughout the water simply by the general turbulence/water movement in the water (sometime add a drop of dye or two and watch how fast it is dispersed in your pond). While diffusion (on the molecular scale) will occur it is a very slow process relative to the mixing that is almost constantly taking place in your pond and is not as much a factor as you might imagine. You may not see the same amount of turbulence throughout your pond but there is some still present. The underlying currents are the result of wind action across the surface, water currents induced by your waterfalls ... and even the occasional eddy from a fish fin! But it is definitely present throughout your pond. Adding an aeration stone at some point will significantly increase the mixing and may help with adding oxygen (although it won’t if you’re already saturated or with 95% or so of saturation).

Finally, the growth of algae on surfaces right after going through your biofilter. Your biofilter is nothing more than a place that provides a lot of surface area for a variety of types of bacteria to attach and grow. While we tend to think of them as being just "nitrifiers" it is actually a complex mix of micro-organisms including but not limited to nitrifiers. Other "critters" are there feeding on critters feeding on bacteria, etc. But the net result is that ammonia and dissolved organic carbon compounds are, for the most part, broken down to carbon dioxide and nitrates (this also has interesting impacts on chloramines but I’ll not get started on that topic here). Phosphorous probably is not removed to any significant extent within your biofilter. So now look at the "growth environment" of the water coming out of the biofilter: it will have some oxygen in it (not all of it was used up), it will have phosphorous in it, it will have carbon dioxide in it, it will have nitrates in it. What or who would LOVE that water??? Algae!!!! Yes, if you put plants in there they will take up some of the nutrients but their removal capabilities will not be 100%. Plus the fact that the moving water transports large quantities of the nutrients past the attached algae further promoting their growth. If you had roaring, raging, class 5 rapids, torrents, etc. cascading over the rocks you wouldn’t see the string algae because the water would abrade it off before they could grow significantly. But in a nutrient-rich environment the algae are sitting there just thanking you for serving their dinner without them even having to order out!!
---David

I use hanging plant extension hooks to hang plant on the sides of my stock tank ponds...same deal, drill 2 holes in the pot and then use 2 hooks.

The only time I have trouble is if I plant a tall plant in a narrow pot...the wind will tip 'em over. So I use really wide containers for those and even they can sit on my unlevel shelves.

You can also put a plastic or wood shelf from the shelf on one side of the pond to the other (weight it down with a rock on each end) and have a level place for pots.

Personally, I'll never do another dug-in-the-side plant shelf.

Happy New Year! S

I also take styrofoam(sp?) wreath circles from the craft store and place those aquatic baskets in them - kind of crammed in and grow bog plants in them too. I don't use soil in anything- just tie the roots down with velcro ties from the garden center.

My plants never get steller- but they do ok.

Lisa

The sink came out of the kitchen he was remodeling for me. He gave me the aluminum frame from a workbench he was replacing. The tiles were all leftover from various projects -- I've had the field tiles for more than 10 years and even moved them from our old house. Can't let go of anything, I'm afraid! The faucet was supposed to go in our laundry room but it wobbles at the base because of a manufacturing defect so Ikea shipped me a replacement and said to keep the one they couldn't sell. Even the plywood under the tile was a used piece.

The bottom shelf is rescued shelving. The short pieces could rest on the cross braces of the frame. I had to buy a length of shelving for the upper that had to be self-supporting. We also had to buy the plumbing -- piping, connectors and the drains for the sinks. Then I added an undershelf basket (that I had to screw permanently into the plywood) for my handtools.

It's connected to running cold water. There's a short length of recycled garden hose that directs the water from the drains to my near-by tomato bed.

A useful tribute to the concept of recycling! I'm so thrilled with it!

Impatines grow really well, some other land annuals will also - the Marigolds were fine until the Koi pulled them out of the pans.

Secet - keep the crowns of the annual above the water line
and many wil do fine - I think one problem is that in too much sun these pans may get too hot for the plants for the plants.

In Atlanta, GA area I've found my impatiens go absolutely wild afer the hot summ heat breaks around Septembr until the cold weather sets in.

Island plant stand - Ihave taken black plastic pipe, ABS, typically usd in pluming drains(got mine at Lowes), make a table base, filled the legs with sand to hepl reduce the bouancy and used a large flat rock on top - then you can have it so you can plant water pants and also land plants in pots as well.

Note - I glue the pipe and fittings, let the glue dry thoroughly - leave overnight and you'll be fine.

I am sporadic about visintg this forum, so I may not see any responses in a timely

FORGOT - I normally use the 1" pipe insulators and you can use 1-3 rows under each other - just be sure not to hav the ends of the tube meet at the same place on the pan or you can get a lisp in that portion of the pan. even with a single insulator, unless the ends are sealed from water you may get a slight lisp - may be albe to counteract with some pea gravel at the opposite point from the lisp.

I hve a duck weed now about 16-18" tall and it has almost completely fill the oil pan- i give it a few jabcob plsnt spikes and its been a happy camper - what is nice is that impatiens can be planted around the edges - this year I'm trying 4 dragon tails in the centr of pan and will have impatiens, some other plants around the edges

Enough typing on a laptop - Shalom

Here is a link that might be useful: The world in miniature

The shrubs would be MUCH better off if you stopped fertilizing them!

You don't mention how much of the rootball your shrubs had left. Here is a general guideline that will give you some idea of what they should have had:

For trunk diameter below 1/2", multiply the diameter by 20 to get approximate rootball diameter.
For trunk diameter between 1/2" and 1", multiply the diameter by 18 to get approximate rootball diameter.
For trunk diameter between 1" and 1-1/2", multiply the diameter by 16 to get approximate rootball diameter.
For trunk diameter between 1-1/2" and 2-1/2", multiply the diameter by 14 to get approximate rootball diameter.
For trunk diameter between 2-1/2" and 4", multiply the diameter by 12 to get approximate rootball diameter.

Here are guidelines for rootball depth:

For a rootball with a diameter of 1', depth should be approximately 8".
For a rootball with a diameter of 2', depth should be approximately 1'.
For a rootball with a diameter of 3', depth should be approximately 15".
For a rootball with a diameter of 4', depth should be approximately 18".

My Hibiscus syriacus's have not leafed out at all yet, and I'm two zones warmer than you! You planted them at a very good time of year, so now all you can do is watch and see. Just be sure to provide the proper amount of water (you'll need to check the soil and rootball) this growing season. Remember that slow, deep watering, when the soil starts to dry out, is much better than frequent, shallow, quick watering.

Here is a link that might be useful: Generic Rootball Size Guide

The tetra product you used is a little "iffy". The active ingrediant is Quinine-hydrochloride, which is dangerous and not quite as effective against many parasite. Not knowing what the parasite is creates another problem. there is not one single parasite treatment that gets them all. Dimilin takes care of the larger parasites (fish lice and anchor worms but I don't think this is what you are dealing with). Prazi or fluke tabs takes care of skin and gill flukes, and A formalin/malachite green product such as ProformC will take care of the rest of them such as ich and costia.

So here's my suggestion. First...get an aerator in there to help them breath. Do some water changes to get the salt levels down to less than .1% since many parasite treatments are not compatible with salt, and treat them with Prazi or fluke tabs for flukes and proformC or a similar malachite green/formalin product for the rest of the parasites. They will need to be treated for a total of 10 days because the life cycle of ich must be considered and there is only a tiny window of time during their life cycle that they can be killed. Follow the dosing on the bottle and even if the bottle says one dose is all that's required, do multiple doses anyway. Retreating with ProformC every 3 days with a 25% water change before each new treatment will be fine.

There are few different factors that will affect how the water will come off the stone. First is the flow rate over that stone. As an example if the stone is 12" wide and you have about 2400 gph going over it you will end up with a sheet of water that is a 1/2" thick and will come off as a solid sheet. If you change that flow to about 300 gph and the water will be about 1/16" thick and will want to rap around the front of the stone. Any time the sheet thickness drops below a 1/4" it will have a tendency to rap around the front of the stone. This is all assuming the stone is level front to back. The more the stone is lower on the front end the easier the water will have it as far as going off the front of the stone. Also this assumes that the stone is flat the more rough or rounded the more the water will want to rap around so a greater flow is required to overcome this effect. Also the wider the stone is the thicker the sheet has to be to come off as a solid sheet. The width of the stone doesn't usually become a factor until the width gets wider then 4 ft. As an example a rock that is 2 ft wide with 2400 gph going over it will come off the rock as a solid sheet but increase the width of the stone to 5 ft with 6000 gph going over it the sheet will want to break up some. Increase the width to 8 ft with a flow of 9600 gph and the sheet will break up into two or three sheets. The widest falls that I have ever made was 16 ft or 192 inches wide. At 19,200 gph the sheet came off the stone as five separate sheets or falls. It took 30,000 gph to get the water to form one sheet.
Mike

Catherine, the fall is currently under re-construction. I'm increasing the height by a few inches.

Oh, but this is not the shrubs forum! Sorry. I got carried away.

Verbascum is a self-seeder, so I've heard. I've not tried it yet myself.

If a plant is planted in clay soil, like lilies usually are, they can be given a complete fertilizer that contains everything including phosphate. The fertilizer is available to the plant but doesn't leach into the water because the clay contains it. Lilies like lots of phosphate to bloom well, but the phosphate would promote algae if it got into the water column.

Fertilizing floating or gravel planted plants requires some care. They can be fertilized by adding the fertilizers directly to the water. If you put it in the gravel it is going to end up in the water anyway. Adding potash, nitrate, and micronutrients to the water is fine, but adding phosphate to the water is asking for algae trouble. The problem is plants like lilies really need the phosphate.

I think your lilies will do better if you put them in clay and give them lots of complete fertilizer. You can also add nitrate, potash, and micronutrients to the water to feed the floating and submerged plants. They will scavenge enough phosphates from the fish waste products to grow well. This will give you healthy plants AND clear water.

That's all it does, though. If you're looking for something to oxygenate your entire pond or stir up the bottom or something, this won't cut it. But for my 12,000 gallon former swimming pool, this keeps the fish alive all winter by allowing gas exchange between the pond water and surrounding air.

Be sure the air pump is same temp as outside, not inside a heated shed or container. If it pumps warmer air through its tubes which are out in the freezing cold, condensation will occur inside the tubes and then freeze and block them.

They say add 1 capful (5ml) for each 50 gallons or in my case, 22 capfuls = 110 ml for 1100 gallons. Bottle is 500ml and so lasts for about 4+ doses. I'm pretty heavily planted and this seems enough as my plants grow like crazy.

I know there was a post here about 2 years ago about some powder fertilizer additive that contains iron that is probably cheaper than what I have if you have a large (many 1000s of gallons).

Both the Liquid Iron and IronSafe are inexpensive and easy to use. Both seem to solve those mysterious chlorotic plant symptoms. Everyone that has floating plants will eventually encounter chlorosis. Adding one of these iron containing supplements usually clears it up in a couple of days.